OK, so it wasn't the first annual. When I bought the plane I had an annual done by a Cessna Service Center. There were a lot of things that I now think they should have caught, like a leaking fuel selector switch. Perhaps they knew that I wouldn't be back since they were in Connecticut and I was in Florida.

Southeast Aero Services is another story. I had them do the initial panel rework shortly after I brought the plane home and was impresses with their professionalism. I chose them to do my REAL first annual because the service manager, Brian Wood, was familiar with Cardinals, and because he came highly recommended.

I also decided that there were some safety issues that although they were legal, and some would say perfectly fine, I wanted them addressed. So I had new four point front seat belts from BAS installed. I also had a PowerFlow exhaust installed because of the anemic climb performance and the aging issues of the original exhaust. In addition to replacing the old rusted exhaust, the PowerFlow will help me get to a safe altitude more quickly.

There were lots of other little things, and some not so little, that needed to be corrected. I decided that I was going to have all of my squawks fixed, no matter how small.

The squawks were stuff that I wanted taken care of during the annual. Some were issues that I discovered in the last year, and others were things that I wanted upgraded for safety or other issues. This is the stuff that I knew about.

Nose gear steering rod - When I was making a tight left turn on the ground I was hearing a popping sound, like something was sticking. Unfortunately for me, it was the nose gear steering rod that was worn out and slightly bent on the end. It had to be replaced. Cessna wanted more than $5000 for it, but I didn't need the gold plated version. I found it from another supplier for only $2700.

Engine baffling - The baffling was obviously the original 1967 vintage, and it was brittle and not helping the engine cooling situation at all. It had to go if I wanted to keep the engine in good shape.

Cowl Mounts - Some of the cowl mounts were coming apart, so new ones needed to be ordered.

Comm Antenna - One of the communications antennas appeared to be original, the fiber glass was showing, and the radio it was connected to was much weaker than the other. After speaking with the avionics shop, we decided that it should be replaced.

Flaps Lagging - The Flaps were taking more time to come than they should. In a go-around situation, the lag would cause the flaps to retract entirely and not stop at the 1/4 setting when that was selected.

Ducting - The fresh air and defrost ducting under the panel and above in the wing also appeared to be original and crumbling. I decided that it also needed to be replaced.

Air Vents - The air vents on the co-pilot side, both front and back, would not open or close no matter what I did. That had to be corrected. As it turns out, the problem ended up being a mud dauber nest about the size of a softball that was stopping the vents from opening and closing.

CorrosionX - Several of my friends suggested that, being in Florida, I needed to periodically do a corrosion treatment to stop and prevent an corrosion from building up. I figured now is as good a time as any.

JP Instruments EDM 700 Engine Monitor - I initially thought I had 2 EGT probes, although the switch on the indicator was a 4 position switch, and one of those probes failed. I found out that I had 4 probes and all 4 needed to be replaced. I thought about getting rid of the switch and replacing the instrument with a 4 in 1 instrument. All told that would have cost me more than $600, so I decided to go with an EDM 700 engine monitor. It would be twice the price, but a major improvement in engine monitoring capability.

PowerFlow Exhaust - The exhaust system was original 1967 and getting to the point where it needed to be replaced. I decided to replace it with a PowerFlow exhaust. It would give me a lot better climb and all over engine performance.

Challenger Air Filter - Since the air filter has to be replaced at the annual, I decided to replace the Bracket air filter with a performance filter from Challenger Aviation Products.

BAS Seat Belts - When I bought the plane, it had only lap belts in front, and that was unacceptable. I decided to replace the front belts with BAS internal reel four point seat belts. The came highly recommended.

Nulites Instrument Lighting - I really like to fly at night. Perhaps that's one of the reasons I fly more in the winter. If N3212T has had any weaknesses at night, its the instrument lighting. So, I said that during this annual I was going to have some sort of instrument lighting installed to make the gauges easier to read at night. I found Nulites in a magazine and decided to give them a try.

The day after Southeast Aero Services started working on the annual inspection, I got a call from Brian. The first words out of his mouth were, "Are you sitting down?" My heart fell into my stomach, and my stomach fell on the floor.

One of the first things on the to-do list were to change the oil and check the cylinder compressions. At the annual I had done when I bought the plane, the cylinder compressions were 73/80 on all cylinders. The log book reads "Compression 73/80 all cylinders. Bore scoped for condition." I had asked for the bore scope because the engine had been flown for only 50 hours in the past 8 years, an average of little more than 6 hours a year.

Southeast checks the compressions first to have a frame of reference, and the compressions were 73/80, 23/80, 45/80, 54/80. They were obviously alarmed and decided to change the oil, get the engine good and hot, then check the compressions again. Clean oil and a warm engine changed the compressions to 50/80, 43/80, 34/80, 8/80, and no that isn't a typo. No wonder the climb rate was anemic. After I picked myself up off the floor, I asked Brian what my options were and he said that he had to pull the cylinders to see what was going on. I told him to go ahead and that I would be there in a few hours to take a look for myself.

As it turns out, the cylinders had surface corrosion around the combustion chamber, which caused enough pitting to cause a problem. The pitting was so small that you can see the discoloration where it was pitted, but you can't feel it. What we think happened is that the corrosion/rust on the cylinder walls and piston rings basically sanded down the piston rings which in turn caused the seal between the piston and cylinders to be very weak. The question that I have is why couldn't the Cessna Service Center, that I had do the pre-buy/annual inspection when I bought the plane, see the corrosion during the bore scope. I think the only way they could have missed it is if they only looked at the top of the piston and not the cylinder walls. Brian's only answer was that maybe they didn't use the right kind of bore scope. Not the performance I would have expected from a Cessna Service Center.

The cylinders came off and went to Don George Aircraft Engines to be re-honed. The good part of this story is that there appears to be no corrosion on the crank shaft or cam, and the pistons and piston pins are in excellent shape, just as you would expect on a 150 hour engine. The other good thing about this is that the anemic climb performance that I was thinking was just a characteristic of the Cardinal with the 150HP engine, was partially due to the fact that I had much reduced power. The fixed cylinders and the addition of the PowerFlow exhaust are going to make this bird really fly!

So, what are the lesson learned? First, when you get a pre-buy/annual inspection done before you buy a plane, know that the shop will do a good job. Get references! Buying a plane that is a long way away is tough. Don't assume that just because it is a factory service center that they will do a good job. Get references! Second, after you get the plane home, go to a shop that you KNOW will do a thorough job and get a second look. Make sure they look at the safety of flight things, and expect to pay for a really good set of eyes. And if you need a reference, Southeast Aero Services is an expensive shop, but in my opinion, it is the best in northeast Florida.

One final surprise was in store for me on the break-in flight. Brian Wood and I began the flight in the normal way. Set the instrument to current settings, altimeter, attitude indicator, directional gyro, all set. Check the magnetos, 100 RPM drop on each, perfect. Check the instruments, fuel pressure, oil pressure, vacuum pressure, oil temperature, amps, all good. So we took off into the clear and a million day and within the first 2 minutes after takeoff we had a total vacuum failure. We finished the break-in flight, 2 hours as prescribed by Lycoming, with no additional problems. Southeast Aero checked the pump and sure enough, it failed. They replaced it with a new pump and all was well.

I certainly didn't expect the cylinders to be producing such low power, and assumed that the PowerFlow exhaust would bring me into the normal C172 power range that I had experienced in the other flying I had done before buying N3212T. When they failed the compression test miserably, the flight characteristics all of a sudden made sense. Although the exhaust needed to be replaced, the added performance of the PowerFlow was just icing on the cake.

I've only flown the plane a few hours since it was returned to service, and I have already decided that I need to re-learn how to fly this plane. The EDM-700 is an enlightening instrument. I can now see the individual cylinder head temperatures and can adjust my climb speed to cool them down to a normal climb temperature. I have already noticed that I need to climb at a faster speed to keep the temps down, but with the increased (restored) power, I can still get more than 500 FPM in the climb even at climb speeds of over 100 miles per hour. I've also noticed that the same takeoff run that I used to take with 1/4 flaps can now be done with no flaps, and in about half the distance. And one other note, I have done a few go-arounds with the new engine and the plane takes off like a rocket. The sight picture out the front window was initially a little unsettling and has taken some getting used to.

All in all, the 6 weeks N3212T was at Southeast Aero Services was a good thing for the plane and my family. I paid a lot of money but got everything fixed. Next year's annual should be a lot easier on the wallet, and take a lot less time.